Breathe with Me

“You know they love an excuse to get together, and they haven’t missed one of the twins and Sophie’s recitals yet.”

“Except Mark.” I scowl down at my quiet phone. “He never has to work on Saturdays, but he said something came up with work and he couldn’t get out of it.”

“Okay, it’s time,” Jax says and walks away, motioning for the girls to gather around him. I walk out onto the stage.

“Welcome, everyone, and thank you so much for being here today. I am Meredith Summers, the co-owner of Twinkle Toes, and on behalf of Jax and I, I’d like to say thank you so very much for all of your support. We love teaching your little ones and are honored that you’ve trusted this studio to bring them to dance. Your girls have been working very hard to prepare for today’s recital. So, without further ado, let’s get started.”

I smile as the families applaud and walk down the steps to my mark in the audience, where the girls can still see me and I can lead them through their dances. As always, we start with the youngest ones.

As they file out and begin to move their tiny bodies to the music, one little girl on the end decides to freestyle it, singing with the music, skipping and dancing around the stage, making the parents, and me, laugh.

That little girl is going places.

Parents happily snap photos and ooh and aah over the girls’ routines as each age group comes out on stage to perform two dances each. Finally, when all is said and done, I return to the stage.

“That concludes today’s recital. Thank you again…”

There’s a tug on my skirt. I glance down to see a tiny little red-haired girl holding up a red rose to me, which I take and smile down at her. She walks away, and suddenly, another girl appears with a rose.

I look up to survey the audience for Mark, thinking this might be his handy-work, but he’s not here. I shrug, thinking nothing of it. Sometimes the dance instructors receive flowers after a recital.

As I try to thank the audience for coming, I’m interrupted over and over again, until my arms are full of beautiful, fragrant red roses.

Suddenly, all of the Montgomerys, Williamses, and Logan, with Jax now standing next to him, all stand and applaud enthusiastically and I’m at a loss.

“What in the world is going on?”

“Turn around, Miss Mer,” Josie yells out from behind me. I turn and stop, stunned, at what I see before me.

All eight of the oldest girls are standing in a line holding signs that spell out Will You Marry Me, M? and Mark is on one knee, holding his hand out to me. I stumble to him, walking on numb feet and feel my eyes fill with tears.

“Are you kidding me?” I whisper. Mark laughs, his blue eyes dancing with happiness, and he flashes that naughty smile at me, making my knees go weak and my heart sing.

“Meredith,” he says and the whole room hushes. “We waited a long time for each other. I don’t think we even knew that’s what we were doing. I will never stop loving you, Meredith A—”

“Watch it,” I say, cutting him off from saying my middle name out loud. He laughs and kisses my hand.

“In a sea of people, my eyes will always search for you, my love. You are the best part of my life, and I can’t imagine ever being without you again. So, in front of everything and everyone we love most, I’m asking you to believe in us and become my wife. I promise, I’ll work every day making sure you never regret it.”

Tears are streaming down my cheeks as I step forward and cup his face in my hand. “Of course I’ll marry you, M.”

He kisses my palm, then slips a beautiful round solitaire diamond engagement ring on my finger before standing and wrapping his arms around me. He slants his lips over mine, then kisses my cheek.

“You said yes.”

“Damn right I did.” I laugh. Everyone in the audience continues to applaud as Mark nuzzles my nose. “Is this a good time to tell you you’re gonna be a daddy?”

“What?” He jerks back and gazes down in my eyes. “What did you just say?”

“I’m pregnant, babe.”

“Holy shit.” He kisses me again, harder this time and then lets out a loud, “Whoop!”

“What’s going on up there?” Will calls out from the audience.

“We’re getting married,” Mark calls back and raises a brow at me, silently asking for permission to announce the good news. I happily nod and he smiles wide, never looking away from me and calls out, “And we’re gonna have a baby!”

Applause erupts again, and I’m suddenly surrounded by people, being passed around from brother to brother, hugged and kissed. The girls are all crying and smiling and hugging each other until they can get to me.

“Congratulations, bella,” Dom says happily as he hugs me close and then passes me to Luke.

“I’m so happy for you,” Luke whispers in my ear. “If you need anything at all, you only have to call.”

I nod with tears in my eyes and then am scooped up into Neil’s strong arms.

“Welcome to our family at last, my sweet girl,” he says with a wide, handsome grin. “It’s about time. We’ve been waiting for you, you know.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Your mother gave me her wedding dress to hold on to for you,” Lucy says as she pats my cheek softly.

“She did? But how did she—”

“A mother knows.” Lucy winks at me. “We’d better get you married before you can’t fit into the dress anymore.”

I glance over to where Jax and Logan are standing, hand-in-hand, laughing with Jules and Nate, who has a sleeping Stella on his shoulder. Will and Meg are congratulating Mark as Leo and Sam both enfold me in a group hug.

“Way to go, babe,” Sam says smugly. “I’ve always liked you.”

“Yeah, right.” I snort as I laugh and she laughs with me. “I think the term is tolerate.”

“I liked you. Now I love you. You’re good for us.”

Jesus, is everyone going to make me cry today?

“Proud of you,” Natalie whispers in my ear, then winks at me and gives my arm a squeeze. “We’ll talk later.”

I’m passed from person to person, until finally, I’m back in Mark’s arms and he’s kissing me silly.

“Are you ready to be a part of this crazy family?” he asks with that naughty grin.

“I can’t wait,” I reply and press my face to his neck. “I can’t wait.”